Illinois-born Lissie offers some of the best Americana music to come out of the Midwest in recent decades. Now living in California, the musician -- Lissie Maurus by birth -- examines life in small-town America and growing up in a rural area.

After many independent labels and attempts to break into the international music scene, Fanfarlo took things into their own hands and released their album for $1 on their Web site. The result? A national tour of the United States and plenty of international dates as well.

Children of famous parents sometimes have a hard time adjusting to life in their parents' shadow. Not so for Rosanne Cash, the daughter of the late Johnny Cash. Throughout her thirty-year career, Cash has been a vibrant and engaging force in the country music world.

Mountain Goats leader John Darnielle has earned plenty of critical and popular acclaim for his literate lyrics and homages to American music of ages past. Now, as a trio, the Mountain Goats have returned with their 17th album in 18 years as a band, "The Life of the World to Come."

Total Babe creates a brand of sophisticated pop rock featuring bright vocals, peppy keyboard and graceful strings. Just babes themselves, this troupe of mostly high schoolers know how to write a pop song.

Owatonna, Minn. isn't nationally recognized for a lot of things, but it can be proud of its most famous native son - Sean Tillman, a.k.a. Har Mar Superstar. After stints in the noise band Calvin Krime and his own Sean Na Na project, Har Mar's exploration of R&B and raw sexuality has found him international fame.

Melding their specific combination of punk, garage rock, and even pop and soul, the Austin, TX trio known as White Denim formed about three and a half years ago when members of two bands, Parque Touch and Peach Train, met and decided to start playing together in 2005.

Nearly 30 years into their career together, the Johns of They Might Be Giants - Flansburgh and Linnell - have just released their 14th studio album, the entertaining and educational "Here Comes Science." Continuing in their recent vein of children's music, the album touches on plenty of scientific topics, like paleontology, astronomy and chemistry.

After nearly 15 years as a band member and side-project collaborator, David Bazan has finally released his debut solo album, "Curse Your Branches", on Barsuk Records. Bazan began his songwriting career as a member of Pedro the Lion in 1995, and has since collaborated with Vic Chesnutt, Micah P. Hinson, and many others.

Birds of Virginia celebrated the release of their debut album "Trees at Dusk" in October, 2009.